Another step towards digitizing public institutions: electronic signatures applied directly from your phone

• Employment contracts can only be signed electronically in Romania since July 2021, while in Estonia, electronic signatures have been accepted since 2002.
• The need for digitization in public institutions has led to the creation of a solution that frees leaders from the burden of paperwork, using smartphones.

Employment contracts, job descriptions, internal regulations, GDPR declarations, occupational safety sheets, or declarations required for part-time contracts typically generate piles of paperwork in public institutions in Romania. However, since July 2021, the Ministry of Labor has allowed organizations to sign these documents electronically, leading to a growing demand for digital solutions in the area of work-related documents.

“It is a logistical nightmare for organizations with multiple locations to send and receive back signed documents from employees by mail or courier. This happens several times a year, as for example, the occupational safety sheet needs to be done every year. That’s why we developed a software solution that allows employees to sign documents in a very simple way, directly from their phone,” says Adrian Dinu, CEO of CREASOFT, a Romanian producer of software and hardware solutions.

The electronic signature developed by CREASOFT, certified by CertSIGN, allows employees to authenticate themselves using simple methods – a personal phone number and a personal email address. Employees receive a link from their employer, access it, and to authenticate, they receive a code on both their phone and email. After reading the document, they can sign it (or not, if they do not agree) by pressing a button.

“The fact that the Ministry of Labor has allowed the digitization of work documents and the use of advanced electronic signatures has opened the door to reducing excessive bureaucracy. Even for part-time contracts, under the new legislation, these signatures can be used, especially since there are those declarations that employees must sign every month,” Adrian Dinu added.

Through electronic signatures for work documents, Romania is taking a step forward towards digitization and is following the best practices used globally. Although the measure was adopted quite late (in Estonia, the most advanced digital society in the world, electronic signatures have been accepted since 2002), the effects of reducing bureaucracy will be seen in the coming years.

“Beyond the fact that employees can sign documents more easily, and employers avoid logistical problems, we have also implemented bulk signing for employers. For example, once the occupational safety sheets are signed electronically by employees, the employer can select and sign them all at the same time, just like making multiple payments via online banking. In addition, all the information is stored in CREASOFT's cloud, which means that we can provide employers with this data in case someone accidentally deletes it from the organization’s archive,” Adrian Dinu also mentioned.

What mayors need to know about CREASOFT's electronic signature:

• It can legally be used for all documents that employees need to sign;
• It is certified by CertSIGN, an authorized provider of certification services for electronic signatures;
• The use of CREASOFT's electronic signature is extremely simple: employees only need a phone and an email address to meet security criteria;
• Mayors can simultaneously sign all electronically signed contracts from employees.

Source: https://www.ghidulprimariilor.ro